Today in Blue Jays history: Adam Lind traded for Marco Estrada

It was one year ago to day that Alex Anthopoulos traded Adam Lind to the Brewers for Marco Estrada. I wasn't overly thrilled about the trade, at the time. He appeared to be a kind of middling 5th starter/long reliever/swing man type. I expected a little more for Lind. I worried about his tendency to give up home runs, with him moving to the AL East.

The next day we put up a poll and, well, most of us didn't like the trade:

• Absolutely hate it: 21%
• Slightly unhappy, but willing to see what else we do: 49%
• Neutral: 18%
• Somewhat happy: 9%
• Very happy: 2%

As it turned out, it was one of those trades that helped both teams. Lind hit .277/.360/.460 in 149 games, good for a 3.1 bWAR, his best WAR number since 2009.

Marco started the season in the bullpen, then joined the rotation with the start of May. It took him a few starts to get going, (0-3 with a 5.02 ERA in May in 5 starts) but, after that, he was terrific. From June 1st on, he was 12-5 with a 2.92 ERA. In all, he had a 3.6 bWAR.

And Marco had a pretty nice postseason. He made 3 starts, went 2-1, with a 2.32 ERA. He came up big when we really needed him.

He, very likely, made himself a very rich man, with his performance this year. I'm not sure that I want the Jays to be the ones to pay him what he is likely to make, but he's going to get a big payday.

Our offense really didn't miss Lind's bat (though, it might have been nice to have a left-handed power bat to give us a little bit of balance). I really don't know what would have happened with our starting rotation without Marco.

I was, and will continue to be a fan of Adam's. I wrote a goodbye post a couple of days later.

Also, one year ago, the Jays exercised the option in J.A. Happ's contract (then traded him to Seattle, a month later, for Michael Saunders and they gave Melky Cabrera a Qualifying Offer. He ended up signing with the White Sox (3 years, $42 million, glad it wasn't us). He hit .273/.314/.394 this year.